References ......................................................................................................................................250

In deep-sea soft sediments, a multiple corer is used to collect simultaneously several meiofaunal samples (e.g., 4-12 corers; Elmgren and Radziejewska 1989). The instrument allows the collection of undisturbed sediment samples of a given surface area to analyze the horizontal and vertical distribution of benthic organisms. Another common sampling instrument for soft sediments is the box corer (Fleeger et al. 1983). The weight of a box corer after sampling can range from 150 to >750 kg and collect a surface sediment of 0.02-1.0 m2 down to a depth of 50 cm. From the box corer, meiofaunal samples could be collected using manual Plexiglas® corers (internal diameter 3.6 cm), one replicate from each different deployment. However, during sampling recovery, most box corers can allow the mixing of the sediment surface, which might alter the quality of the sample. Bett et al. (1994), Shirayama and Fukushima (1995), and Bett (2000), comparing sampling efciency of multiple corers and box corers in deep-sea environments, pointed out that meiofaunal abundance collected using box corers was signicantly lower than that determined in samples collected using multiple corers. However, for the studies, comparing NIOZ-type box corers and multiple corers reported identical results for all benthic variables investigated, suggesting that both sampling devices are adequate for the sampling of deep-sea meiofauna (Danovaro et al. 1999b).